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Specialized Chisel discussion

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#2,001 ·
Finally after almost 2 weeks got my Chisel out on its first ride. It seems it does all the things I wanted it for. Super efficient, fast bike. We have a flat 9ish mile loop that we do and we weren’t even pushing hard and I PRd the loop. I’m pretty out of shape coming back from an injury and it was just kind of crazy how fast the bike is compared to what I’m used to on a MTB. Snappy out of turns when I wanted it to be, carves really well. The handling and change of direction is a nice change from my normal trail bike. All in all I think it’s the exact type of bike I was looking for. Super happy with the purchase so far.

Mostly final set up is below. May have to go with a bigger ring if I can. It came with a 32 AB Oval but I was pressing in the 3 small gears the whole time today so a 36 May be more appropriate to get me more in the middle of the cassette if it fits. Looks close. Had today been a race run i probably would have been in the little gear the whole loop.

XT 2 piston brakes/Cranks/Shifter/cassette (12 speed 10-45)
XTR Derailleur
Bontrager Kovee XXX Wheels w/Bontrager XR3 tires.
Fox 34 Factory Step Cast fork.
SQLABS 30x bars 780mm
PNW Loam 200mm Dropper w/Wolf tooth lever
70mm Race Face Turbine stem
Ergon GA3 grips.

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#2,002 ·
I've been enjoying reading these posts and admiring the different Chisel builds. Figure it's time I post mine since she's finally clean. Fully built, with pedals, cages and Wahoo mount, she's just under 21 lbs. SID is 100mm and the wheels are carbon BTLOS rims on DT350 hubs (China direct wheel builder), and they've been awesome.
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#2,004 ·
Lionel_Hutz said:
Where are folks finding framesets for builds? I check the Spec website and LBS search feature pretty regularly and have never seen a frame in stock.
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I had saved searches set up on eBay and Marketplace. Found mine on eBay. The full build had actually been on there a while but I felt like he wanted too much. He finally just posted the frame and we started talking and he ended up offering a great deal on the whole build. He had literally never ridden the bike in the trail. Just around the block. He had built it then had a baby right when he got it finished and those priorities took precedence so I got a deal.


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#2,005 ·
texjur said:
I've been enjoying reading these posts and admiring the different Chisel builds. Figure it's time I post mine since she's finally clean. Fully built, with pedals, cages and Wahoo mount, she's just under 21 lbs. SID is 100mm and the wheels are carbon BTLOS rims on DT350 hubs (China direct wheel builder), and they've been awesome. View attachment 1994585
Click to expand...
So talk to me a little about those wheels. I need to get something for my gravel bike since the Chisel inherited those wheels.


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#2,006 ·
Frantic29 said:
So talk to me a little about those wheels. I need to get something for my gravel bike since the Chisel inherited those wheels.


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Click to expand...
I did a ton of research on Chinese wheel options, and ended up deciding between BTLOS and EIE. I've since bought a set from EIE and am impressed with them too (marathonmtb.com is a big proponent of EIE).

BTLOS was great to deal with. Very timely with responses to my emails and were able to customize the build slightly as they didn't have exact options I wanted on the website. These are hookless (which was a must for me) and have been my primary wheels for XC riding/racing for almost two years. So far, they've not even needed a true and continue to have a great ride quality. That said, I'm relatively light I suppose at 150-155lbs.

The only downside is sometimes shipping can be a lot, making the cost savings over other brands minimal. But if you watch their website, they do periodically offer heavily discounted FedEx shipping or other specials. Hope that helps. Happy to answer any specific questions.
 
#2,007 ·
What did the wheels cost shipped qnd what are the specs? Weight? Etc. i have been researching and i have yet to find carbon wheels shipped with 27-30mm ID and DT350 hubs fur much under $1000. Sometimes more. The Rovals with 15% discount code are like $1150 and available immediately.
 
#2,008 ·
Lionel_Hutz said:
Where are folks finding framesets for builds? I check the Spec website and LBS search feature pretty regularly and have never seen a frame in stock.
Click to expand...
I ended up having to buy a full bike. I lucked out and a local shop had one random medium in stock. Otherwise, I had no luck finding medium frame for a reasonable price. Economically it worked out OK as I took all the parts from the Chisel and put them on an old frame - selling that. But otherwise, yea, finding just a frame was not happening for me.
 
#2,009 ·
jrhone said:
What did the wheels cost shipped qnd what are the specs? Weight? Etc. i have been researching and i have yet to find carbon wheels shipped with 27-30mm ID and DT350 hubs fur much under $1000. Sometimes more. The Rovals with 15% discount code are like $1150 and available immediately.
Click to expand...
Those Rovals sound like a decent deal. That said, my wheels are BTLOS' i24A rims (24mm internal, hookless with asymmetrical drilling), 28H front and rear, DT350 hubs (upgraded ratchet), center lock rotors, j-bend CX-Ray spokes, brass nipples, boost front and rear, and without tapes and valves, my recollection is they were just under 1450 grams for the set. I bought them when they were having a sale, and ended up paying about $900 total (with shipping). I did confirm with them everything I wanted was in stock before I ordered so as to minimize delays. Took about 3 weeks to my door. Hope that helps. Good luck!
 
#2,010 ·
So, I went ahead and un-Evo’d my “Chisel Evo” by swapping in a 100mm air spring to my 35mm SID with 120mm of travel. The fork needed a rebuild anyways, so I had the shop doing the rebuild pop the shorter air spring in. I figured it’d be easy enough to put the 120mm back if I wanted to.

Bottom line—I kinda wish I’d started with the 100mm. It climbs noticeably better, there are a number of climbs near me where the front loved to lift, that’s not a thing now.

Descending isn’t any worse, in fact, on less bumpy descents, I think it’s somewhat better because the bb sits a smidge lower. As for steep and bumpy descents…it’s a hardtail. It’s always going to do poorly in that area. I never used all 120mm of the SID’s travel anyways due to the stiff compression damping, so it’s no real loss to go to 100mm of available travel. I, um, still didn’t use all the travel on my last ride, maybe now I need to start playing with settings some more now.
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#2,011 ·
msrothwe said:
So, I went ahead and un-Evo’d my “Chisel Evo” by swapping in a 100mm air spring to my 35mm SID with 120mm of travel. The fork needed a rebuild anyways, so I had the shop doing the rebuild pop the shorter air spring in. I figured it’d be easy enough to put the 120mm back if I wanted to.

Bottom line—I kinda wish I’d started with the 100mm. It climbs noticeably better, there are a number of climbs near me where the front loved to lift, that’s not a thing now.

Descending isn’t any worse, in fact, on less bumpy descents, I think it’s somewhat better because the bb sits a smidge lower. As for steep and bumpy descents…it’s a hardtail. It’s always going to do poorly in that area. I never used all 120mm of the SID’s travel anyways due to the stiff compression damping, so it’s no real loss to go to 100mm of available travel. I, um, still didn’t use all the travel on my last ride, maybe now I need to start playing with settings some more now.
Click to expand...
I thought they only made a 120 & 110mm air shaft for the 35mm SID forks. What 100mm shaft did you use?
 
#2,012 ·
#2,013 ·
msrothwe said:
So, I went ahead and un-Evo’d my “Chisel Evo” by swapping in a 100mm air spring to my 35mm SID with 120mm of travel. The fork needed a rebuild anyways, so I had the shop doing the rebuild pop the shorter air spring in. I figured it’d be easy enough to put the 120mm back if I wanted to.

Bottom line—I kinda wish I’d started with the 100mm. It climbs noticeably better, there are a number of climbs near me where the front loved to lift, that’s not a thing now.

Descending isn’t any worse, in fact, on less bumpy descents, I think it’s somewhat better because the bb sits a smidge lower. As for steep and bumpy descents…it’s a hardtail. It’s always going to do poorly in that area. I never used all 120mm of the SID’s travel anyways due to the stiff compression damping, so it’s no real loss to go to 100mm of available travel. I, um, still didn’t use all the travel on my last ride, maybe now I need to start playing with settings some more now.
View attachment 1994758 View attachment 1994757
Click to expand...
Does the fork feel stiffer with less travel? Seems quite cool to have the 35mm Sid with 100mm
 
#2,019 ·
nothing here was chosen to be light, but durable, whole groupset Shimano Deore M6100, Sun Ringlé Duroc wheels, KS E20 dropper, M520 pedals, SWAT tools, original aluminum cockpit, 120mm SID Select+, 120ml selant on each tire.

11.99 kg i think is a good weight for a robust bike

Image
 
#2,020 ·
DelPrete said:
nothing here was chosen to be light, but durable, whole groupset Shimano Deore M6100, Sun Ringlé Duroc wheels, KS E20 dropper, M520 pedals, SWAT tools, original aluminum cockpit, 120mm SID Select+, 120ml selant on each tire.

11.99 kg i think is a good weight for a robust bike

View attachment 1996200
Click to expand...
Very nice and robust set up. I would suggest a grip upgrade, just because those are ... meh. Divirtase!
 
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